Hi there. I'll see if I can help.
The "New Shows" page in Interactive displays two types of shows: 1) shows that are "Coming soon", and haven't been scheduled in the guide yet, and 2) shows that have been scheduled in the guide and whose first air date is either in the future or less than a week in the past.
So for example, if the next season of Survivor was starting on the 1st of July, it would appear in the New Shows list right away, and would stay there until the 8th of July -- one week after the first air date. For weekly shows, the general idea is to mark it as new until the second episode.
United States of Tara (ABC 30 June) is, I think, the second episode of Series 2. When are the stars scheduled to fade away? The third episode of a new series?
Since United States of Tara started on 23 June, it'll stay in the New Shows list until the 30th, one week later.
Lie to Me (SC Ten 30 June) is the third "new" episode (actually a continuation of Series 2), and doesn't have a star. Is this because it is a continuation of Series 2, or because the stars disappear after two episodes of a new series?
Lie To Me wasn't marked as "new" by the guide team, so it doesn't appear in the New Shows list. I'm not up on the particulars of that show, so I can't say exactly why, but maybe because it's a continuation of series 2, as you said.
Packed to the Rafters looks like it is back with a new series, and yellow stars, on Channel 7, 29 June. However there are also stars against repeats of what look like an earlier series on tonight, Sunday 27 June. By "returning series" does this mean repeats of earlier series will be flagged with stars?
At the moment, when a series is marked as "new", all showings of that series get a yellow star next to them in the guide, even repeats. This probably needs a bit of work, for the case you mentioned, where repeats of earlier seasons are still being aired along with shows from the new season.
Thanks for the input,
Russell